一位父親很有錢，有一天，他和家人帶著小兒子到鄉下去參觀。他們立意要讓小兒子知道什麼叫做「窮」，所以帶他去農村，要他實地體會一下窮人的生活。
他們在一個很窮的農家裡住了兩天。
農家的孩子要負責餵養家畜，要負責訓練幫忙農事的狗。
傍晚時分，為了節省自來水費，農家的孩子們都到附近的小溪裡去洗澡；晚上沒錢沒燈、沒錢付電費，只能全家聚在黑漆漆的院子裡聊天。
當他們從農家回來以後，爸爸問孩子說：「你覺得這趟行程如何？」
孩子說：「很好啊！爸爸！」
「你見識到窮人家到底有多窮了吧？」爸爸問。
「是啊！」孩子點頭稱是。
「那你看到了什麼嗎？」爸爸又問。
孩子回答說：「我終於見識到我們家到底有多窮了。」
孩子繼續說：「我們只有一隻狗，但是他們卻有四隻狗；那四隻大狗在他們小孩的指揮之下，又聽話，又懂事。當他們家的小孩好神氣！」
「而且，我們只有一個游泳池，還是在花園中間；但是他們卻有一整條溪流，沒有盡頭；他們每天都可以盡情地玩水仗，我們家卻只有我一個人游泳。」
「還有，我們家的花園只有一排進口的路燈，可是他們卻有滿天的星星；他們每天晚上都可以聊天聊得好高興，可是我們家卻沒有人跟我聊天。」
「我們家的空間只到前面庭院，但他們卻有整個天地的空間。」孩子作了個結論。
孩子說完，父親無言以對。
這位富爸爸用心良苦的，希望自己的孩子體驗何為貧窮生活，並刻意安排孩子住在很窮的農家裏兩天。最後，為這位父親萬萬沒想過，原來兒童所看到的東西，的確與大人是不同的 - 不同的觀察、不同的視野、不同的定義。
本篇非常感人, 更具激勵人心, 身為台灣原住民教會之牧者, 真想譯為族語(阿美族)供多人分享與得激勵.不知可否同意本人將諸多好文章譯為阿美語,供團契聚會分享與使用,若可煩請出具"同意翻譯阿美語授權書"以便以尊重著作權之禮.專此請示, 謝謝, 並願主賜福聖工.
The original author is unknown, the article was translated from English.
Here is the English version.
One day, a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night."
"Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight."
"We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. "
"We have walls around our property to protect us and they have friends to protect them."
With this, the boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have.
What is one person's worthless object is another's prize possession. It is all based on one's perspective.
Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have, instead of worrying about wanting more. Take joy in all you have, especially your friends.